SPECIAL OLYMPICS
INDONESIA 2010
The Special Olympics Indonesia (SOIna) 2010 was held
at the Sports Stadium in Ragunan from 24th - 30th June
with more than 1300 athletes from 26 provinces and it
is intended for people with intellectual/mental disabilities
(tunagrahita). And these special athletes have competed
in their district/town before the competed in the SOIna
then the champions can then compete in Special Olympics
World Games.
Ayu and Ade Rai at
the
Special Olympics
in
Jakarta - July 2010
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I arrived in the venue on Sunday 27th. It took one hour
to get there from the hotel - "the traffic to Ragunan
is always busy” said the taxi driver. When I got
there, I had to take an ojek to go to the main stadium.
Unfortunately when I got there all the athletes were
ready to go back to their hotel, the games were already
finished. So I went to the committee base camp and met
with the organising committee.
On Monday 28th, I went back to the venue to watch SOIna
games. When I arrived I went to the committee base camp
and met with the members. The Special Olympics games
consists of 7 sports; athletics, badminton, table tennis,
football, swimming, basketball and bocce ( Like permainan
kelereng in Indonesia but the balls are much bigger).
The committee took me around the sporting area and show
me the map of the location for each game.
On Monday 28th, I went back to the venue to watch SOIna
games. When I arrived I went to the committee base camp
and met with the members. The Special Olympics games
consists of 7 sports; athletics, badminton, table tennis,
football, swimming, basketball and bocce ( Like permainan
kelereng in Indonesia but the balls are much bigger).
The committee took me around the sporting area and show
me the map of the location for each game. |
I was impressed by the motivation and spirit of the
athletes in each game. At 3 o’clock the committee
took me to the main hall to attend a seminar about Nutrition
delivered by the famous Ade Rai. He gave a very interesting
presentation on good food and bad food. And Ade’s
advice to keep fit, first, do enough exercise
, eat when you are not hungry, eat rice not more than
your fistie”, - interesting isn’t it?
Athletes from East Kalimantan |
Athletes from Yogyakarta |
The closing ceremony was held in the football field
at 4 pm. The participants were thrilled to see Ade Rai
. Ade Rai was appointed to be the main icon for SOINA
2010 for his achievement as being an great athlete and
sportsman. The organizing committee said that Ade Rai
is always consistent in campaigning healthy life style
and good nutrition in Indonesia.
The closing ceremony was brief. It started with some
singing performances from each province and speeches
from the organising committee and of course a few words
from Ade Rai. The closing ceremony finished at 5.30
pm. All the participants went back to their buses and
went back to the hotel and got ready to hit Ancol for
some recreational activities the next day.
Watching the Special Olympics games, met the athletes
were very inspiring. It’s amazing to see how people
with mental disabilities with their great spirit can
achieve what the normal athletes can achieve. Congratulations to everyone involved including the Australia Indonesia Partnership (AIP).
Yeah - the winners!
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Ayu with the Jakarta Team
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Competitors from West Java
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Banten athletes - great job!
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Athletes all the way from Maluku
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Central Java athletes taking a
break from activities
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